So far my 3 sisters garden has been doing really well at my mom’s house. The beans started blooming a few weeks ago, so I snapped this photo because I thought it was quite lovely how they work together.
Since the corn is planted close together I can’t get into the middle of the patch to pick beans. So I decided to let the beans mature into shelling beans. When I harvest the corn it should be time to harvest the shelling beans as well. Since it’s our popcorn it will stay on the stalks until it’s dry.

Anyone else trying the 3 sisters garden, or another method of companion planting?

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10 Comments to “Three Sisters Garden Harmony”

We planted lima beans by the corn last year. Frankly, I found it a pain to fight through the corn to harvest the beans. I like bamboo poles better.
.-= kristin @ going country´s last blog ..Yesterday’s News =-.

Those who do this regularly have shared that the most practical varieties to grow are dent corn (leave on the cob until dry for grain), dried beans, and wintersquash/pumpkins. The difficulty of access is solved because all of these varieties are not harvested until fully matured and cured/dried on the plant. This makes perfectly good sense to me because it works well but the few times I have tried it I was annoyed at the hassle of trying to harvest either the sweet corn or the pole beans.

We have never grown a real 3 sisters garden, I would like to try it. We do let our beans clamber up the sunflowers though, runner beans and sunflowers seem to go perfect together. What kind of beans are you growing with the corn? Nice picture, it really is neat to see how well those two crops work with each other.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..The Realization of Corn =-.

I intended to this year but the beans I planted with the corn never emerged. The squash started germinating after the corn was done so things didn’t work out this year for it. I’ll try again next year!
.-= Dave´s last blog ..Propagating Arborvitae =-.

My last post was about companion planting and my carrots. I did try a Three Sisters Garden this year, but it was a real bust with the cold weather. The corn only grew to three feet. The beans wanted to grow to ten feet. I had to put in bamboo poles for support. I think I like my beans and lettuce combo better. I put the lettuce in the back of the pole beans. By the time the pole beans grow tall enough the lettuce is really happy with the shade.
.-= Daphne´s last blog ..Carrot Companions =-.

I have not tried this because I have never grown corn in a garden. It just seems like such a waste of space. BUT your strawberry popcorn does not sound like a waste.

I am really impressed with your choice of plants. It seems like a great update of an ancient practice. If I get some of that popcorn, I will try something of this sort.
.-= Chicago Mike´s last blog ..Pumpkins Uber Alles =-.

I did only corn and beans (kentucky wonder pole). Trying to square ft garden didn’t really leave room enough for the squash – instead I grew that vertically on the north side of the bed. Worked pretty well for us!

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.